Independent poll watchdog wants elections called off
Independent poll watchdog wants elections called off
JAKARTA (JP): An independent poll body has called on the
government to cancel the 1997 general elections, citing
government interference in the political contestants' affairs
which renders the process "legally defective".
The Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP), manned
by prominent figures and government critics, said in a press
conference yesterday that the poll would be useless, as there is
no guarantee that the contestants would be independent.
"We want the general election process to stop. It's defective,
anyway," KIPP chairman Goenawan Mohamad said at the office of the
Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute yesterday.
"Given the existing condition, the poll wouldn't be a free and
fair procedure," he said. "It should be called off because the
political parties that should participate are not independent."
The 1997 poll is to be joined by three political parties --
the ruling Golkar, the Moslem-oriented United Development Party
(PPP) and the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) --
contesting for 425 of the 500 seats of the House of
Representatives. The remaining 75 seats are to be allocated for
the Armed Forces members, who do not vote.
Goenawan charged that the government has been blatantly
meddling in the political parties' affairs. He cited the current
leadership crisis in PDI as an example of the results of the
meddling.
The government and the military have encouraged a rebel group
in PDI to hold a congress last month, which later ousted PDI
chief Megawati Soekarnoputri and elected Soerjadi as the new
chairman.
The poll body, which the government has never recognized,
warned of a possible backlash. When the government supported the
rebel congress, it "miscalculated" the strength of the support
for Megawati, Goenawan said.
"By supporting the rebel congress, the government has lost its
legitimacy," he said.
Separately, a number of organizations continued with their
support for Megawati yesterday. Activists of a pro-democracy
group, Pijar, protested outside the General Elections Institute
building, calling for a boycott of the general elections.
"The government's intervention in PDI is illegal. We call on
Indonesians to refuse to participate in an illegal election,"
chairman Feri Haryono Machsus said.
"It's better to become Golput than go along with a dishonest
election," the protesters said.
Golput, which stands for Golongan Putih (literally, "white
group"), is a term popularly used to refer to those who opt not
to vote for any of the three political parties at election time.
The name was coined to contrast with Golkar (Golongan Karya),
whose name means "functional group".
Separately, KIPP deputy chairperson Zoemrotin K. Soesilo said
she had proof of the government's interference in political
organizations' internal affairs.
"Two branch offices of PPP in Java have been pressured to
include names of people chosen by two different regents in their
preliminary lists of PPP legislators," she said.
Meanwhile, Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief for General Affairs Lt.
Gen. Soeyono said in Bandung yesterday that ABRI would employ
constitutional methods in its effort to maintain security during
the 1997 general election and the 1998 session of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR).
"We prefer to take preventive measures rather than launch
repressive actions in ensuring the security of the 1997 general
election and the MPR 1998 session, so as to avoid unnecessary
victims," he said.
However, he called on ABRI members not to hesitate in taking
"proper action" to deal with "incidents" that may occur during
the events.
On another occasion, Attorney General Singgih said in Dili,
East Timor, yesterday that next year's general elections would be
held in an era of openness which guarantees democratization and
human rights protection.
"We'll stick to legal principles in settling any disputes," he
was quoted by Antara as saying. (imn/17)